Wall construction



June 12, 1934. G. F. M KE NNEY Filed Nov. 22, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l llllrllllllll .Illlllll'llllll ll.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 22, 1950 W45.

Patented June 12, 1934 UNITEDS'TAT-ES PATENT OFFICE 9 Claims.

My present invention relates to wall constructions and the elements thereof, and more particularly to a novel side wall, ceiling, partition or the like, adapted to serve as a finished wall surface oras a base for a plaster coating.

More particularly the invention contemplates a novel combination of studding, wallboard, and means for securing the wallboard to the studding.

'The invention also provides a novel type of stud and a new fastening element to serve as means for supporting the wallboard against the studding.

Among the important objects of the invention are the following: To provide an assembly of wallboard elements closely associated together in end to end relation to form a wall or ceiling; to maintain such assembly securely supported in place; to minimize the width of the openings between the edges of adjacent wallboard elements; to prevent sagging of the wallboard from the foundation studding or scantling; to provide a construction which may be assembled in a minimum of time, by relatively unskilled labor, and which will require only inexpensive and easily handled parts; to provide an installation which will be entirely fireproof; and in general to provide a novel wall or ceiling structure which will be superior to those of the prior art.

A further objectis to provide a novel type of fastening element adapted to coact with the studding to secure wallbo'ard thereto, which is provided with a portion adapted to interlock engagem ent with the stud when the fastening element is given a slight turn.

A further object is to provide a fastening element for the purposes set forth above which is adapted to make spring engagement with the wallboard, so that the wallbo ard may be resiliently and yieldingly secured to the studding.

The elements which make up the combination constituting the "complete exposition of the present invention may be used in the construction of 'a vertical side wall or a ceiling. It is to be understood that the invention is capable of embodiment either of such structures. Merely to exemplify the invention, the accompanying drawings show it reduced to practice in a ceiling structure. In the following specification and claims the term wall will be used, and it is to be understood that this term is intended to include generically a vertical side wall, a ceiling, a partition, or any other of the surfaces of building interiors which are commonly faced with a plaster coating. p e

The invention, which is illustrated in certain preferred forms of embodiment in the accompanying drawings, will now be explained briefly and later pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of this application for Letters Patent and in which the same reference numeral designates the same part in the several views,

Figure l is a vertical sectional view of a wall, roof and ceiling structure;

Fig. 2 is a similar vertical section taken at a right angle to the View of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan View of the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2; or Fig. 3 may be considered an elevational view of a vertical wall or partition;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the stud elements of the wall;

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross sectional view through the stud element and fastening element and a pair of wallboards associated therewith;

Fig. 6 is a plan View of one type of fastening element; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of another type of fastening element.

Referring now to the drawings, and first to Figs. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 designates a roof or floor structure, which in the form shown in these two figures, is of reinforced concrete construction. It will be understood, however, that the invention which forms the subject of this application for Letters Patent may be associated, when embodied in a ceiling, with any well known type of roof or floor.

Secured to the under side of the roof or floor l are a plurality of eyes or equivalent elements 2 from which depend hangers 3, such as wire links or any suitable means for suspending any type of beam 4. In the form shown in the drawings the links 3 are hung in rows spaced apart along the roof or floor and the beams 4 are carried thereby in parallelism in a horizontal plane. It will be appreciated that the beams may be of any suitable type and any desirable means for suspending them may be employed. Furthermore, the distance between adjacent beams is not of the essence of the present invention, but will depend upon the dimensions of other parts of the structure, preference of the designer and other considerations. l

The reference numeral 5 designates one of a plurality of studs which are secured by any satis'factory means, such for example as the twisted wire '6 preferably at right angles across the parallel series of beams 4. Thus it will be evident that if the beams 4 in a given installation extend longitudinally of a room or building the studding 5 will extend transversely of the room or building.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective View of the novel stud 5 which forms one of the elements of the present invention. The stud is channel shaped, being provided with a rear face '7, and integral right angularly extending parallel sides 8. In the rear face '7 of the stud perforations 9 are formed at regular spaced intervals. I prefer to provide these perforations in the form of bayonet slots, i. e., each perforation comprises a relatively long and narrow slot portion and a communicating enlarged circular end opening. For convenience, the relatively narrow slot portions of all the perforations extend in the same direction.

The stud 5 is secured, as has been explained, to the beams 4, with its rear face '7 engaged with the lower surfaces of the beams, so that its sides 8 extend toward the interior of the room. Wallboard 10 is applied to the studding preferably in the form of strips or boards of the usual commercial size, i. e., 48 inches by 16 inches. When boards of these dimensions are used the studding elements are conveniently placed two feet apart, and. the wallboards are positioned transversely of these studding elements so that each board will contact along its transverse edges with studding strips and will engage across its transverse center line another studding strip.

It will be appreciated however that the broad principles of my present invention are not concerned with the employment of wallboards of any particular dimensions, and that the studding strip which I prefer to position across the transverse center line of the wallboards may, for economy or for any other reason, be omitted.

With the wallboard elements applied as shown in Fig. 3, a fastening element such as shown in Fig. 5 or Fig. 7 is used to secure the wallboards to the studding strip. The fastening element of Fig. 5 consists of a stem 11 having a screw threaded free end 12 and a head 13. The fastening element of Fig. '7 includes a stem 11 and a screw threaded free end 12 and a modified type of head 14. Whichever type of fastening element is used, its manner of application will be understood from the drawings to consist in inserting the free end 12 through the space between abutting edge portions of wallboard 10, engaging the free end 12 in the perforation 9 of the stud 5, and rotating the head until the same is drawn securely up against the edges of the wallboard 10 to seat the same snugly against the free edges of the stud side portions 8.

It will be appreciated that provision of the perforations 9 in the form of a bayonet slot will enable the free end 12 of the fastening element to be conveniently inserted through the enlarged circular portion of the perforation until the head of the fastening element seats against the edges of the wallboards 10. The fastening element may then be moved laterally to engage its screw threaded end in the slot portion of the perforation 9, whereupon a slight rotation of the head will bring the head, the wallboard edges, and the free edges of the stud sides 8 into snug contact.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fastening element which will yieldingly or resiliently secure wallboard elements to their support, to prevent warping, loosening and consequent shifting thereof which is inevitable when the wallboards are fastened to the studding by non-yielding or non-resilient means such as. na ls or the like.

To this end the head of the fastening element is made resilient. In the form shown in Fig. 5 this resilience is provided by slitting the circular head radially, along two or more lines of cut. One edge of each of the segments formed by the cuts is then turned down slightly, that is to say, one edge of each segment is displaced from the normal plane of the head in the direction of the free end 12 of the stem. It will be evident that when these downturned edges are engaged against the wallboard edges, and the wallboard edges contact with the free edges of the studding sides 8, further compression of the parts consequent upon rotation of the fastening element will result in distorting the downturned edges of the head to secure the wallboard yieldingly and resiliently to the stud, so that a snug and secure contact is at all times assured, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

The head 14 of the fastening element shown in Fig. 7 is adapted to achieve the resilient and yielding function which has been explained in connection with the fastening element of Fig. 5. To this end the head 14 is formed of a strip of relatively resilient metal which is bent into arcuate form, so that the head is slightly convex, the stem 11 extending from the concave face of the head. The edges 15 of the head 14 which are adapted to engage the edges of the wallboard 10 are conveniently curled upwardly, i. e., rolled back on the convex face of the head to reduce friction between the head and wallboard edges when the fastening element is rotated in place.

It will be evident that with the perforations 9 provided in the studs at uniformly spaced intervals, a fastening element need not be engaged in each of said perforations, but may be used sparingly or freely, depending upon the Weight of wallboard and plaster to be supported, and other considerations.

As will be evident from the drawings, the heads of the fastening elements extend across the space between adjacent end edges of the wallboards, which spaces register with the spaced studs 5. Each of the fastening element heads therefore spans said space to seat against the margins of two wallboard elements. However, for greater strength and security I prefer to have preformed in each wallboard a series of slots 16, conveniently three in number, which extend along an approximately transverse center line of the wallboard. In an actual installation this series of slots registers with one of the studs 5 which is spaced midway between similar studs which engage the end portions of the given wallboard strip. Fastening elements may thus be conveniently inserted in one or more of these slots 16 to engage perforations 9 of the center stud and support the wallboard strip in substantially its midportion. As shown in Fig. 3 the wallboards may be staggered, so that each stud 5 will engage alternately throughout its length the midportion of a wallboard strip and the abutting edges of two other wallboard strips.

It is to be understood that the wall surface, when assembled as has been described, may, if desired, be covered with a plaster coating (not shown). Indeed, one of the principal uses of the invention is to serve as a foundation surface for plaster, providing a substitute for the well known metal or wooden lathing, to which it is at once superior in point of efficiency and cost of construction. It is well known that the wallboard 10 (which is the well known plaster or gypsum slab provided with an exterior coating of paper or pasteboard) is capable of forming a close bond with plaster. I have found that such wallboard when hung according to the principles of the present invention provides a base for the reception of a plaster coating which eliminates several of the objectionable characteristics of wallboard foundations as assembled prior to this invention. Thus, by the present invention the cracks between adjacent boards are reduced to a minimum, since they need be no wider than the diameter of the stem of the fastening element. Cracks of such reduced width are negligible, so that the foundation wall constitutes a practically unbroken expanse of wall board having the advantage of a uniform suction or rate of absorption, which results in the prevention of cracking in the drying plaster.

Again, the resilience of the head of the fastening element serves to maintain the wallboard securely and snugly against the studding, preventing the warping, loosening and consequent shifting thereof which is inevitable when the boards are fastened to the studding by non-yielding or non-resilient means, such as nails and the like.

It is to be understood that I have shown and described in'this application for Letters Patent the present invention in certain preferred forms of embodiment merely by way of exemplification. Other and further modifications will occur to persons skilled in the art, but all such modifications, to the extent that they embody the principles of the present invention as pointed out in the appended claims are to be deemed within the scope and purview thereof.

Having thus described my present invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A wall construction including wallboard, a channel stud provided with a perforation in its rear face and an element having a substantially inextensible stem engaged in said perforation and a head provided with a spring portion yieldingly securing the wallboard to the stud.

2. A wall construction including wallboard, a channel stud provided with a perforation in its rear face and an element having a substantially inextensible screwthreaded stern engaged in said perforation and a head provided with a spring portion yieldingly securing the wallboard to the stud.

3. A stud having a rear face adapted to be secured to a wall support and provided with a perforation, said stud having a pair of side portions angularly extending from said rear face, in combination with a fastening element separate and distinct from the stud including a stem having a threaded end adapted to be meshed with the perforation and a head portion adapted to span the space between abutting edges of wallboard elements and to secure said wallboard elements to the side portions of the stud.

4. A Wall construction including a plurality of spaced channel studs each provided with a perforation in its rear face and having side portions extending in substantial parallelism, means securing each stud to a support with the side portions extending outwardly, a plurality of wallboards, adjacent pairs being associated in edge to edge relation, each having an edge engaged against the free edge of one of the channel sides and each having an opening in alignment with one of the studs, and a plurality of fastening elements separate and distinct from the stud, each having a stem detachably engaged in a perforation of a stud, certain of the elements having a head engaged over the adjacent edges of a pair of wallboards and others having a head engaged with a wallboard about the margin of said opening.

5. A Wall construction including wallboard, a channel stud provided with a keyhole slot in its rear face, and an element having a stem threaded to mesh with the narrow part of the slot and a head securing the wallboard to the stud.

6. A wall construction including wallboard, a channel stud provided with a perforation in its rear face having an enlarged portion and a narrow portion, and an element having a stem and a head, the end of the stem being adapted to pass freely through the enlarged portion and being threaded to mesh with the narrow portion, and the head being adapted to secure the wallboard to the stud.

'7. A wall construction including wallboard, a channel stud provided with a perforation in its rear face, and a fastening element having a stem engaged in the perforation and a head overlying portions of the wallboard and securing the wallboard against the stud, the outer edges of the head being bent inwardly and the head being resilient whereby the fastening element holds the wallboard yieldingly against the stud.

8. A wall construction including wallboard, a channel stud provided with a perforation in its rear face, and a fastening element having a stem engaged in the perforation and a head overlying portions of the wallboard and securing the wallboard against the stud, the head being radially slitted and having portions adjacent the slits turned inwardly and resiliently engaged with the margins of wallboard elements securing said elements yieldingly against the stud.

9. A wall construction including wallboard, a channel stud provided with a perforation in its rear face, and a fastening element having a stem engaged in the perforation and a head overlying portions of the wallboard and securing the wallboard against the stud, the head comprising a bowed resilient member secured at its center to the stem and resiliently engaging at its ends the margins of wallboard elements and securing said elements yieldingly against the stud.

GEORGE FRANCIS MCKENNEY. 

